Presidential Investiture represents 'A Day of Celebration, A Week of Service'

President Leroy M. Morishita

August 31, 2012

By Monique Beeler

Celebrations leading up to the Oct. 12 investiture ceremony at which Leroy M. Morishita formally will become the fifth president for California State University, East Bay, will emphasize service to the community, a cornerstone of a CSUEB education.

“I am honored to serve as president of Cal State East Bay and look forward to continuing the university’s tradition of excellence and access, while strengthening our commitment and connection to the communities of our region through ongoing service learning activity,” Morishita said.

In anticipation of the historic occasion, approximately 150 Cal State East Bay students will trade in pencils and laptops for rakes and paint brushes Oct. 6 as they kick off a week of service, starting with a clean up and beautification project at Harder Elementary School in Hayward. CSUEB faculty and staff volunteers, along with Harder Elementary PTA and family members, will join students for the Saturday project. During two three-hour shifts at the elementary school, participants will repaint buildings, assist with gardening and landscaping, re-line play courts and add bike racks.

Additionally, freshmen living in the Pioneer Heights student apartments are planning daily community service activities for seven days in advance of the presidential investiture. Activities scheduled include Harder Road clean up and providing assistance to Friends of Hayward Library. Faculty members and CSUEB students associated with the Hayward Promise Neighborhood initiative — dedicated to transforming the lives and educational opportunities for children and families living in poverty through a $25 million federal grant — also plan to participate in the week of service.

Beyond volunteering their time, energy and talents to meeting neighborhood needs at schools, parks and nonprofit organizations, students participating in “thoughtfully organized service experiences” build and develop their own skills set, said Mary D’Alleva, director of CSUEB’s Community Service Learning program. During the spring 2012 Freshman Day of Service, for example, 900 Cal State East Bay students volunteered in the community.

“At Cal State East Bay, service learning is integrated into the student curriculum and provides structured time for a student to think, talk or write about what he or she did and saw during the service activity,” D’Alleva explained. “That provides them with opportunities to use newly-acquired academic skills and knowledge in real-life situations in their own communities.”

The investiture celebration, beginning at 10:30 a.m., will be held on the Hayward campus in conjunction with two long-standing annual events. In addition to the Presidential Investiture, the entire university community is invited to Faculty Honors Convocation, which pays tribute to newly-tenured, long-serving and retiring professors, and to al Fresco, a fall welcome back event geared toward students.

“We invite the extended Cal State East Bay community to recognize our distinguished faculty, celebrate the beginning of the fall quarter, and participate in a historic event as President Morishita is ceremonially installed as President of Cal State East Bay,” said James Houpis, CSUEB provost and vice president of Academic Affairs.

Prior to his interim appointment as CSUEB president in July 2011, Morishita had served in senior administrative positions for 29 years at San Francisco State University, including executive vice president, chief financial officer, vice president of physical planning and development and associate vice president of budget planning and resource management.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Science in counseling from SFSU. He received a doctorate in education in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

In his presidential investiture remarks, Morishita plans to articulate the collective vision for Cal State East Bay as refined over the past year through a series of conversations with members of the university community, who together have revised the university mission, outlined eight strategic shared commitments and identified a set of learning outcomes for graduating students.

“I look forward to working together to ensure our students have the opportunity to reach for and achieve their dreams as we continue Cal State East Bay’s tradition of excellence, distinction and regional influence,” Morishita said.